Hi everyone. I'm building a 9' 9wt salt water rod and had a question about guide sizes. I'm using American Tackle TITAN guides. The sizes I thought I would use are: 16-12-10-8-8-7-7-7-6-6 with a TITAN S.S. LITE tip top size 6. I'm using 10wt AirFlo 40+ line. Do these guides seem to small at size 6?

Thanks,
Jamie

There is no need to go through all those sizes. If you plan to pass loop to loop connections, then 6's may be a tad small. I'd try this:

16 - 12 - 8's on out.

.......

Jamie--I think the 6's will definitely be too small even though the 40+ is not a loop-to-loop system. If you are convinced you'll never need to pass loops through, size 7's will be sufficient for that line and all other WF styles. They also let most loops through, but 8's are definitely safer, albeit a bit heavier even in the Titans. Can you get a sz8 tip top in the Titan line? If not and 7 is the biggest, then it doesn't make a lot of sense to run 8's to the tip, IMO. I'd go: 16-12-8-8-7's.

Nice line, BTW, eh?

All the best,

Jamie:

Concur with Tom on the 8 mm guides. I just finished a 12 weight tarpon rod that used alconite guides. I used 16, 12, 10, 10 and the rest 8's. Only the 16 and 12 were double foot. All the rest were single foot, Fuji alconites (BLAG). The tip was also an 8mm Fuji tip (BFAT).

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

I’m working on a Dan Craft FT 9010-4. I am building it specifically for Roosters and Dorado in Baja, where I fish from a boat and have three rods rigged and ready. It will be fished with either a WF-10 intermediate or Teeny TS-450 line. I will also be using it for salmon and steelhead with sinking lines, and I’m sure you will use your rod for heavy freshwater, too. I’m going with a Fuji TLST-7 tip, five Titan size 7 guides on the tip section, three Titan size 8 on the next section, and finally Titan size 12 and 16 two foot guides. I have an RPLXi 11 weight with size 7 Fuji TSG guides, and it is my go-to rod when we get on Dorado.

The lines I use will all easily pass through the tip guide, which has a slightly smaller ID that the Titan #7 guide. None of the leaders I use are as long as 9’, so the line-to-leader connection does not have to pass through the tip. I do not use multi-tip lines. If you do, or will be using a floating line and leaders longer than the rod, I would go with the size 8 tip and guides. Your rod will be more versatile.

Titan makes a size 8 tip, but regrettably it is not a titanium frame. The TPST-8 Fuji looks like a casting rod tip because of the long braces, but it is relatively light, since it is a titanium frame, and I use them on 12 weights.

Hi Jamie,

I go 100% with Tom on his selection. John Launstein does have a good point though with regard to the tip ring situation. I regulary use Fuji SG type single leg guides and to get over the problem of no maker producing ceramic size 8 tip tops in the right tube size I do something that some consider quite crazy. I fit extra oversize Hopkins and Holloway std Hard Chrome Hay Fork tips. These tips are very light and have a big bore which allows your line to whistle through. OK it's marrying old technology and materials with new, but the makers give us little choice. I don't go much on using single leg rings as advocted by some very good builders on this site but this is only a personal thing not routed in any technical reason.

I do feel that size 6 is very small for a 10 wt line in fact I would use size 8 down to 8wt rods. They are soo light they are not going to affect the rods action very much at all. It was the craze over here in the UK some years back for factory rods to sport very small single leg rings as it looked "nice". All I remember were a lot of frustrated Anglers trying to work their fly lines through those inadequate rings.
Heh why not let us know how you get one.

Regards

Mike OLiver